America is back. It was not the landslide victory for democracy that polls misled us once again to expect. (Just shoot me if I ever again read a poll.) But we have a decent, experienced, sane President-elect Biden, and thrillingly, we finally have a very exciting and gifted woman and a minority in Vice President-elect Harris. After having a sociopath as president for these four excruciating years, just returning to normal will be such a tremendous relief and improvement.

And it can be better than just normal. Biden won’t be able to truly make it morning-in-America like he could have with a Democratic Senate, but there is a lot he can still be expected do. His first priority will be to put the tremendous power and expert knowledge of the USA to work, as it should have been all along, on the pandemic. Getting the pandemic under control will let us get back to work and unleash further progress. In the meanwhile it is expected Biden will immediately open up with a series of executive orders including rejoining the Paris climate accords, reversing President Trump’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization, repealing the ban on travel from some Muslim-majority countries, and reinstating the program allowing “dreamers” to remain in the country. I expect kids to be out of cages quickly. He will put Putin back in his small place along with other autocrats like Turkey’s Erdogan and North Korea’s Kim while restoring the U.S. standing on the international stage. Moscow Mitch can’t block this progress.

I hope President Biden also immediately reinstates Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. Trump’s attempt to terminate them is another example of undemocratic rule by a tiny, ruthless, greedy minority. Americans, and the world, love the National Parks and Monuments. I will be hearing more about progress on this front and hope to add future blogs about it soon.

Republican readiness to embrace conspiracies like QAnon and voter fraud (nonexistent), dismiss science regarding such critical issues as climate change and the pandemic, suppress votes and otherwise subvert democracy while promoting minority rule, will all still be a problem. But voters saved democracy from the crunching jaws of autocracy this time and we have the chance to put it behind us for a good long while. The rest of my life anyway.

Now for the U.S. Senate in 2022. With work on healthcare, a green new deal, climate change and the infrastructure and jobs that come with this kind of progress, it could be really good in America.